B.A. Government, College of William & Mary, MAT, Montclair State University, California State University-Dominguez Hills, Masters in Humanities, MSc Natural Sciences, Delta State University, PhD, Edith Cowan University
Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy, Soul of Goodness (with a foreword by Dr. Cornel West), Six Questions of Socrates, Constitution Cafe: Jefferson's Brew for a True Revolution
According to Phillips, he began immersing himself in Plato's dialogues featuring the Athenian philosopher Socrates, and the historian Xenophon's Socratic dialogues, starting when he was about age 12.[1] This inspired him, he recounts in his book "Soul of Goodness,"[2] to hold his first dialogues a la Socrates during lunch time at Carver Intermediate School in Newport News, Virginia, during the height of the desegregation era. After graduating from Menchville High School, he went on to garner a BA in government from the College of William & Mary.[3][4] In 1997, he earned an Master of Arts in Teaching from Montclair State University, studying under the auspices of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children.[5] In 2000, he earned an M.A. in humanities, with an emphasis in philosophy, at California State University, Dominguez Hills;[6] He also has a Master of Science in Natural Sciences degree from Delta State University,[7] which was the first of his master's degrees.[8] Garnering both a scholarship and a teaching fellowship, in 2010, at the age of 50, Phillips received a PhD in communications from Edith Cowan University in Australia - the subject of his doctoral dissertation (or thesis as it is known in Australia) is "Socrates café: an effective mechanism for realising a more participatory democracy".[9] Afterwards he received a three-semester appointment as a senior writing and research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.
Phillips's Café Initiatives
Phillips writes in his book 'Soul of Goodness' that he began his professional life in 1981 as a middle school literature teacher in a six-room schoolhouse in Casco, Maine, in the rural Lakes Region of Maine and where he held transformative Socratic circle dialogues with his students, as well as a feature and hard-news newspaper reporter in Bridgton, Maine and then in Abingdon, Virginia, garnering journalism awards.
Besides the Socrates Cafe, Phillips has launched kindred initiatives, including Democracy Cafe, Constitution Cafe, Spirit of '76 Cafe (part of his Declaration Project, and most recently, a Shakespeare Cafe. This latter project, which is resonating across the U.S. and, increasingly, on a global level, springs originally from the mysterious[clarification needed] death of his father.
Academic career
Phillips was a 2012 recipient of the Distinguished American Leadership Award, along with Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise.[10] Phillips has also taught in the graduate program Media, Culture and Communication at New York University,[11] and at the University of Pennsylvania as a Senior Writing and Research Fellow.[12] He has been Senior Education Fellow at the National Constitution Center[13] and 2014–15 Network Fellow at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.[14]
Published works
Books
The books published by Phillips are (the ISBNs refer to paperback editions, where available):
Constitution Cafe: Jefferson's Brew for a True Revolution ( ISBN978-0-393-06480-3) (W.W. Norton, 2011)
Socrates in Love: Philosophy for a Die-Hard Romantic ( ISBN978-0393330670) (W.W. Norton, 2007) [Published in numerous other languages]
Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern-Day Journey of Discovery through World Philosophy ( ISBN978-0393326796) (W.W. Norton, 2004) [Published as well in many other languages]
Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy ( ISBN978-0393322989) (W.W. Norton, 2001) [Widely published also in other languages]
A Child at Heart: Unlocking Your Creativity, Curiosity and Reason at Every Age and Stage of Life (Skyhorse, 2018), ISBN1510729631 [Published in other languages as well]
Ceci Ann's Day of Why ( ISBN978-1582461717) (Penguin Random House, 2006) [this is now independently published as 'Day of Why,' part of Phillip's 'Days of Wonder' series; it is published in other languages, including Mayan languages as well as Spanish, Korean, Greek, Japanese]
The Philosophers' Club ( ISBN978-1582460390) (Penguin Random House, 2004) [This is now independently published, and is part of a Philosophers' Club series of books that includes 'Worlds of Difference'
Soul of Goodness: Transform Grievous Hurt, Betrayal, and Setback into Love, Joy, and Compassion, with a foreword by Dr. Cornel WestISBN978-1633887886
Papers
Phillips wrote, among many others, the following papers:
"Coalition" M/C Journal, Vol. 13, No. 6 (2010)
"The Austrian Philosopher Who Showed that Words Can Spark Humanism – Or Barbarism"," Zocalo Public Square, January 31, 2018
"Philosophical Counseling: An Ancient Practice Is Being Rejuvenated," Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 1998, pp.48–49
"Daring to Revise America's Sacred Text", San Francisco Chronicle, Opinion Page, July 3, 2017
"Socratic Inquiry for All Ages", Vol. 8, No. 15, 2012, Childhood & Philosophy
"Why aren't kids part of 'All men are created equal'?", Huffington Post, December 9, 2014
"Live Like Picasso: Nurturing Fluid Intelligence and an 'Artistic Dimension", Huffington Post, December 19, 2014
"The Efficacy of the Lipmanian Approach to Teaching Philosophy for Children", Childhood & Philosophy, Vol. 7, No. 13, 2011
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